Not long ago I came across the work of Hal Elrod. I was doing research on some specific marketing strategies for Kindle books when I happened upon Hal’s stuff.

Intrigued by the title, The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8AM), I wanted to know more.

I liked the (Before 8AM) in that many people are just warming up by 8 a.m.

Intrigued, I did a bit of research on Hal. Turns out he has quite an intense story and a huge following. After reading several of his posts, watching a few short videos and finding his process to be sensible, I purchased the audio version of his book.

Many Successful People Have a Morning Ritual

What I found most interesting are the number of successful people who have developed the habit of morning rituals.

In a nutshell, these are routines that they do day in and day out to start their day. Call them what you will, habits, rituals, routines, or whatever, it’s all about developing habits that serve us.

I’ve gone through various periods where I had morning rituals, but then, I would get sidetracked. Amazingly, when I have a morning routine that serves me, I accomplish more than when I don’t.

So why do I stop doing something that works? Like many people, I get sidetracked. Yet, I seem to find my way back… just like I did with Hal’s process.

In less than a week of implementing Hal’s process, I’ve noticed an improvement in my productivity, energy, focus and state of mind.

Keep in mind that the morning ritual must be done before jumping on social media, checking text messages and emails. Sure, you can say that’s part of your ritual, but truth be told, you will be much more centered, grounded and productive if you start your day with a routine that does not include watching the latest cat video, checking all your Facebook likes or seeing what POTUS tweeted.

Famous People Who Have Morning Rituals

What I found interesting is how many famous people have morning rituals.

• Tony Robbins
• Tim Ferriss
• Oprah Winfrey
• Barack Obama
• Jocko Willink
• Steve Jobs

Each has a routine for the start of their day. If people of this caliber are implementing morning rituals, there’s something to be said for the power behind the routine.

For example, Oprah Winfrey’s routine includes starting her morning with twenty minutes of meditation, which she says fills her with “hope, a sense of contentment and deep joy.”

Next, she hits the treadmill to get her heart-rate pumping. Winfrey swears that at least fifteen minutes of exercise improves her productivity and boosts energy levels.

Next, Winfrey “tunes herself in” by going for a walk, listening to music or preparing a nice meal. Finally, she always concludes her ritual by eating a healthy meal full of complex carbohydrates, fiber and protein.

If it’s good enough for Oprah, it’s good enough for me.

Back At It

When I started back up with a morning ritual, I had three primary things I did after getting out of bed. It’s important to get out of bed to do this. Otherwise, you might fall back to sleep or not give 100% to the process.

1.      10 minutes of conscious silence.

2.      10 minutes of conscious stretching.

3.      10 minutes of reading something positive.

To read more on this, check out my blog post 30 Minutes from Mindless to Mindful Living.

Over the last week, I’ve increased what I am doing to be more in line with the recommendations from Hal Elrod. What I find most amazing is how familiar a routine is. I also find it to be a great way to wake my spirit up. After a short period of time, my focus becomes clearer, more specific to what I want to accomplish, and it allows me to have a level of awareness I wouldn’t have if I were to simply jump into my day.

Today I added journaling and affirmations to the mix.

To see what Hal’s method is, check out this short video.

Consciously Start Your Day

Why not give it a shot? Try this for just one week and notice what happens. The key though is that once you make the commitment to do this for a week, you stick with it.

After you finish the first week, evaluate your progress. If nothing changed, stop the process. If you notice some positive changes, commit to another week.

You may be amazed at how much your focus can change in as little as a week. And isn’t it nice to be amazed?